Why Plumbers Need Business Insurance

Residential and commercial plumbing contractors face unique small business risks related to the work they do installing and repairing the pipes that keep water running to fixtures, faucets and heating systems. In addition to the specialized risks, you also manage the typical risks most small business owners face, like property damage to your shop or loss of important business records. Learn about the insurance coverage plumbing businesses like yours typically need, and most often purchase, from The Hartford.

Business Owner’s Policy

Most plumbing contractors have a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP). Why? Because it protects a residential or commercial plumbing business in much the same way a homeowner’s insurance policy protects the home and personal possessions of individuals and families.

By combining three basic insurance coverages that are important to nearly every small business, including plumbing contractors, a Business Owner’s Policy can help provide you cost savings on insurance rates while protecting your business.

General Liability – helps protect plumbers from certain lawsuits alleging injuries or property damage that occurred as the result of your business operations, like if a customer visiting your shop bumps their head on an overhang and is injured, or an employee causes damage to a customer’s property while making a service call. It even helps cover certain claims of slander and libel. Business Liability insurance does not cover liabilities directly arising out of the professional plumbing services you may provide.

Commercial Property – helps protect the place where plumbers run their business and the tools and equipment they use to conduct business, from wrenches and torches to office computers – whether leased or owned.

Business Income – helps cover the loss of income when you can’t run your plumbing business because of covered property damage.

Plumbers depend on utilities for electricity and communication services. Business Income for Off-Premises Utility Services Coverage (OPUS) covers loss of income caused by interruptions in utility services beyond your control, such as when a storm takes down power lines, knocking out electrical and phone service. Unlike most other insurance companies’ offerings, OPUS coverage from The Hartford starts as early as 12 hours from initial interruption of utility service.

With OPUS, plumbing contractors can get insurance that provides power interruption protection and safeguards their income against outages of other utilities as well.

The tools and equipment you use as a plumber are vital to your business. Imagine the impact to your plumbing business if the tools or equipment you use every day were lost, damaged or stolen.

The Hartford offers a range of insurance coverage options plumbers like you can acquire to help pay for the replacement or repair of the tools and equipment you use to conduct your business, like pipe cutters, torches, power tools, and more - whether owned, borrowed, or leased. The Hartford’s BOP even covers tools and equipment owned by your employees who bring their own tools for use in your business operations.

You depend on your computers to communicate with customers, schedule appointments, create invoices, manage accounts, and so much more. Computers and Media Coverage helps pay to research and replace lost data and the resulting loss of business income should your plumbing business’s computers become damaged or a virus corrupts your records.

Plumbers often store personally identifiable information about their employees and customers including Social Security and credit/debit card numbers. Data Breach Coverage helps pay the costs of notifying impacted individuals, managing public relations, good faith advertising and more if personal information is lost or stolen from your plumbing business.

Have you ever borrowed a vehicle to visit a job site or a customer’s home to provide plumbing services? Unlike most personal auto insurance policies, Non-Owned Auto/Hired Car Coverage covers you when a borrowed vehicle, used for business purposes, is involved in an accident.

For businesses without owned or long-term leased vehicles that would need to be covered on a Business Auto policy.

It’s easy to increase your Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) protection at an affordable price with The Hartford’s Stretch® endorsements that bundle valuable key insurance coverages. For plumbing contractors like you we offer:

Contractor's Stretch

Super Stretch for Business Services

Contact an agent or a representative from The Hartford about these cost-effective insurance solutions for plumber’s that help take the guesswork out of selecting the right coverage for your business.

Additional Solutions

If you have employees, use a car for work, or work from home, your plumbing business may also benefit from:

Required by most states, workers’ compensation insurance coverage provides benefits to the employees of your plumbing business for work-related injuries or illnesses. These benefits include medical care, wages from lost work time, and more.

In addition, if the worker’s family should decide to sue you, workers’ compensation coverage can help you with any related legal fees your company may face. Residential and commercial plumbing contractors are among the many businesses that have been turning to The Hartford for workers’ compensation coverage for more than a century.

Do you ever use your car for your plumbing business? For example, do you use it to pick up tools and plumbing supplies, visit customers to estimate jobs, run business errands, or more?

A Business Auto Policy provides coverage generally not included in a personal auto insurance policy. It can cover you or an employee when an owned vehicle, used for business purposes, is involved in an accident.

If you run your plumbing business out of your home, you probably want a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP). A Business Owner’s Policy provides coverage not typically available with a homeowner’s insurance policy.

Ask yourself, “Do I have plumbing customers come to my home for estimates, do I accept business mail or package deliveries at my home, or do I have employees or inventory at my home?” If so, your agent or a representative from The Hartford can help you select the right insurance coverage to protect your plumbing business.

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The coverages and services described herein are summaries only. All policies should be read carefully to determine exclusions, limitations and other terms and conditions. In the event of a conflict, the terms and conditions of the policy will govern. All coverages and services may not be available for all businesses or in all states. Please contact your agent or broker for details.